Axil-- That may be nice but it is probably a tall order to get the coating you suggest--SiC/graphite to bond well to the alumina over the entire outer surface and not crack with thermal cycling. I would think the distribution of H within the Alumina could be accomplished better with a slow release of H as one would have with LiH or AlLiH4. The controlled heating of the AlLiH4 could be accomplished with the heating coils. I would think a better seal would be a thin stainless steel or other high temperature ductile metal outer barrier to contain the H, if that is desired.
The real advantage of the graphite outer shell in the pebble reactor (which is not new) was to act as a neutron moderator as well as a long lived barrier to corrosion and loss of fission products in the long-term management of the depleted fuel. As I recall the old pebble reactors were to be cooled with He gas. The "pebbles" were small spherical fuel cells whose diameter was established to limit the internal temperature of the fuel at full power. The item you reference discusses SiC and C/C fibers for structural strength at high temperatures, NOT SEALING FOR H. The conceptual design proposed in the reference is just "pie in the sky" IMHO--not unlike the hot fusion concepts that have soaked up $B's over the years and have not worked yet. I think the fast reactor ideas are non-sense. The item you reference sounds like an add for research at Oak Ridge into materials that can withstand high energy particle damage like one may get at CERN. Thankfully, the LENR coming revolution with put all this "stuff" to bed, although way too slowly. In summary, your TRISO LENR reactor would not compete with Rossi's drug store variety IMO. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: Axil Axil To: vortex-l Sent: Monday, January 05, 2015 7:07 PM Subject: Re: [Vo]:A bombshell of a different type? In the nuclear industry, there is a reactor type called the pebble bed reactor. That reactor uses a uranium and plutonium nuclear fuel enclosed in a graphite and Silicon carbide coating called TRISO fuel. http://www.intechopen.com/books/metal-ceramic-and-polymeric-composites-for-various-uses/composite-materials-under-extreme-radiation-and-temperature-environments-of-the-next-generation-nucl That pebble bed fuel has been tested to keep all the products of fission sequestered for years at a 100% reliability rate. The same type of barrier element sequestering system could be used to keep the Hot Cat type reactor element tight. The down side is that carbon has been shown to be a poison to LENR in some LENR reactors. Care in the design of the TRISO LENR reactor who be required. From the analysis of the fuel mix in the Rossi reactor, carbon was found in a high concentration. I take this as an indicator that carbon is being used in the Hot Cat as a hydrogen barrier material. I would put the graphite and SIC element barrier on the outermost serface of the Hot Cat in my own reactor design. On Mon, Jan 5, 2015 at 9:00 PM, <mix...@bigpond.com> wrote: In reply to Axil Axil's message of Mon, 5 Jan 2015 17:58:58 -0500: Hi, [snip] Providing that a graphite coat would actually perform this function, it could be a good idea. >What if a coat of graphite was applied to the outside of the HotCat as a >hydrogen barrier during its fabrication and then a final thin veneer coat >of alumina cement completes the fabrication by covering the graphite and >forming the heat radiating fin structure. > >The hydrogen could permeate throughout the alumina body of the remote not >being confined until the hydrogen hit the graphite coat on the outside of >the HotCat. > >This method of fabrication would allow hydrogen to get into all of the >porous alumina structure throughout the entire HotCat reactor. > >This would allow much more Oxygen 17 by many orders of magnitude to be made >available to the nuclear reaction under discussion. Note that in my calculations here below, I already assumed that all of the O17 in the Alumina was used. That's why I said it was optimistic. > >On Mon, Jan 5, 2015 at 5:08 PM, <mix...@bigpond.com> wrote: > >> In reply to Eric Walker's message of Fri, 2 Jan 2015 23:36:57 -0800: >> Hi, >> [snip] >> >Have I missed something important? >> > >> >Eric >> >> Something else I just thought of: >> >> 17O+6Li => 16O + 7Li + 3.107 MeV >> >> This reaction would provide a path for Li7 to be regenerated from O17 in >> the >> Al2O3. >> >> The same mechanism that enabled the transfer of a neutron from Li to Ni >> could >> also enable this regeneration transfer. >> >> 0.037% of O is O17, so 450 gm of Al2O3 would contain about 3E21 O17 atoms >> allowing for the regeneration of another 3E21 Li7 atoms. >> >> This process would, optimistically, quadruple the amount of Li7 available, >> and >> also add considerable energy to the process. >> >> Regards, >> >> Robin van Spaandonk >> >> http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html >> >> Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
